Table 1 The Pregnancy Discrimination Act

•The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, was enacted in 1978 to prohibit sex discrimination “because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.” [9].

•The Pregnancy Discrimination Act makes it illegal, among other things, to not hire a person because of a current or future pregnancy, fire or demote a pregnant employee, deny the same or similar job to an employee when returning from pregnancy-related leave, treat a pregnant employee differently than other temporarily disabled employees by refusing reasonable accommodations, or harass a pregnant employee related to their pregnancy [9].

•Employers are required to treat a woman who is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy the same as other temporarily disabled employees, by providing accommodations such as light or modified tasks, alternative assignments, disability leave, and leave without pay [8, 9]. The labeling of pregnancy-related conditions as a "disability" is the subject of ongoing debate and cross-disciplinary advocacy [13]. However, the current legal mechanism for asserting rights to reasonable accommodation during pregnancy in the US is through a disability framework [14].